


Duty and Vengeance

by tigeressdion



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Angst, Cousland Backstory, Family Feels, Gen, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-21 22:22:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14294727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigeressdion/pseuds/tigeressdion
Summary: You learn every nook and cranny of the castle and remember them. You allow your mabari to terrorise Nan when the boredom gets too much. You pray in the Chapel for something, anything, to happen so that you might have some excitement, some glory that goes beyond the duty of being a Cousland.





	Duty and Vengeance

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first forray into dragon age fanfic, so i hope you enjoy!

It goes like this:

 

You're the younger and Fergus is older and bigger and stronger. Fergus likes to fight with sword and shield, knocking his trainers down and laughing as he pulls them up from the dust. You learn to be quick and sneaky because when you and he wrestle as siblings are wont to do, you wouldn't stand a chance relying on just your strength.

Your mother favours the bow and your father is like Fergus, and you still want to be in the middle of a fight but a shield weighs you down so you carry twin blades and let the clash of metal on metal or the whistle of a sword swiping air where you once stood speak for you.

You and Fergus make the most excellent team when you're not teasing each other or stealing cakes from Nan’s oven before they're ready. You train side by side and your teachers learn you're a duo to be feared. Fergus rushes in, eyes blazing and feet thrudding on the ground whilst you circle round and stab opponents in the back when they cower before him.

But Fergus is older and starts to be sent away more on business, with mother or father at first but more and more on his own and independent in Denerim and you begin to hear tales of the Antivan trader’s daughter he's met and how he loves her and how your mother thinks the match is excellent and your father simply wants him to be happy. You're a little jealous to find your time with him shared with this Oriana, but you meet her once when you accompany him to Denerim and seeing them coo at each other convinces you this will make him happy.

One day, when he brings Oriana home to Castle Cousland for the wedding and guests are thronging in your home and you're eyeing them all and wondering who you can seduce and where, Fergus approaches you with a smirk on his face that so often elicits a sigh from mother and a hearty laugh from father.

“I've got something for you, pup,” he says, and beckons for you to follow.

You follow him to your room, where there's the sound of whining and snuffling coming from within and you shoot Fergus a dubious look before you enter.

The bedding has been torn apart, and sitting in the centre of the destruction, tail thumping the worn flagstones and his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth is a mabari pup, head tilted as he stares at you.

“I thought you might need another strapping soul to charge into battle with you now that I'm otherwise engaged,” Fergus says, laughing when you punch him in the shoulder and grin.

You drop to your knees and the mabari trots up to you, licking your face before you can stop him.

“Looks like he's imprinted on you,” Fergus says, sounding smug. “Give him a name, and then we can go and terrorise Nan with him.”

 

It goes like this:

 

Fergus is going to be head of the family some day and for all his jokes and laughs, he's mellow. He has a son with Oriana and is ready to settle into his family life. He needs no reminder of duty.

You were always the wilder one, made moreso by your father's encouragement. You're tactful and you turn away every man and boy your mother tries to have you marry. As much as you love Rendon Howe, you've grown up knowing him and his family after all, you can't even stomach the thought of some day marrying Thomas. Instead, you seduce a trail of ladies-in-waiting and minor noblewomen. 

Instead, you yearn for the battlefield. You're permitted to aid the guards in skirmishes with bandits now and then, but your parents only have two children and Oren is yet young; no one will allow you into real danger.

You learn every nook and cranny of the castle and remember them. You allow your mabari to terrorise Nan when the boredom gets too much. You pray in the Chapel for something, anything, to happen so that you might have some excitement, some glory that goes beyond the duty of being a Cousland.

 

It goes like this:

 

You're a daughter, sister, aunt, sister-in-law, student, child, and dutiful Cousland. Your family loves you and you love them despite the underlying boredom that sometimes grows overwhelming.

Then, in the space of one night, everything you are is stripped from you.

No longer a daughter, an aunt, a sister-in-law. No longer a student and not a soul left who knew you as a child.

(Well, not quite. There is one. The traitor. Rendon Howe. His name haunts your days and each night before you sleep you speak him name and dream of the bloody vengeance you will take when the time comes.)

You could still be a sister. Fergus is out there, somewhere. 

(You cling to the thought. To lose everything, to lose everyone would be too much. Surely the Maker can grant you one mercy? Just this one.)

You are dragged from your burning, crumbling home. Your mother, an arrow notched and aim at the door, your father, lying in his own blood.

(Like Oriana, Oren, Aldous.)

The Grey Warden drags you from your home, your life given him.

Everything is stolen from you, and in return you are given one thing.

No longer a Cousland. Now, a Grey Warden.

 

It goes like this:

 

You are the Warden Cousland, and you learn to understand your duty.

**Author's Note:**

> if you enjoyed this, please leave a kudos/comment to let me know!
> 
> if you want more, visit me @thewardensjournal on tumblr where i take requests for anything dragon age: origins related! hope to see you there, for a prompt or just a chat


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